Kiipu

My goodness, he speaks French too! Well in that case, it is all French to me! Chinese: 棒棒君 = BÀNG BÀNG JŪN = Master Bang Bang. (君 Japanese suffix for a boy's name & Master as in referring to a young boy in English) For those born after circa 1980, it may come as a surprise that my mother would address letters to me with the prefix Master followed by my name! Edit: Now that I think about it, all correspondence used a prefix such as master, miss (Ms.), mister (Mr.), misses (Mrs.). Every household would have a copy of Emily Post's or Amy Venderbilt's books about etiquette and the rest can be found within these books. Emily Post Amy Vanderbilt

A quick way to spot an early zōheitō is to look and see if it has a blade fuller or not.

It's all Chinese to me! 天皇 = Tennō = Emperor. 昭和十五年 = 1940. 佐藤小太郎 = Satō Kotarō. I am told by an anonymous source named "ecurb" that this is a pseudonym used by @BANGBANGSAN in his misspent youth.

Thanks James. Your sword was made by Kazunori and there are several examples of his work on this forum that can be found by searching under "Kanematsu Kazunori". 関住兼松一則作 = Seki jū Kanematsu Kazunori Saku. @mecox

@jamesbranagan, this was a little confusing for me having to go to your profile to see the pictures. One picture in particular caught my eye and I will repost within this thread. Exactly what part of the sword has this stamp and where is it located? I have not seen this marking before and several of us on this forum would like more details. @Bruce Pennington @BANGBANGSAN

Piers, I always use the existing thread title in case something goes wrong with the link. Since I am here and I am making a pest of myself, I might as well add another link! You just got to like these pictures? Small Table Displays at Gun Shows, Post #4

And his new forum name is Darth Vajo of Bavaria! @Xander Chia there are some really good articles that you should take a look at via the link below. You will find several that discuss the shortcomings of the traditional made sword, especially in regards to cold weather. Japanese Sword and Tosogu Related Articles This article in particular shows that even back then the shortcomings were known and workarounds were developed to address the problem. Ura Nihon no Toko By Yoshikawa Kentaro

Via GBF. Tanegashima/Teppo Wanzl Conversion

A little infographic just for Bruce! Amahide, Post #14

Hi Ed, best to just leave the habaki alone for the time being. Below is a link to get you started on the handle rewrap question. However, I would wait until others have chimed in with more recent experience. Type 98 Japanese Officer's Sword In addition, on the menu tab at the top of NMB, click on Nihonto Info. From the drop down menu, hover over Links and then click on Restoration. This will display several individuals who do sword work.

The same character, just old versus new style. 亞 = 亜 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/亞 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/亜

興亞 = 興亜 = kōa = development of Asia. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/興亜

Hi Dan, the hilt markings consist of a kanji character followed by some numbers. Will need a closeup of the kanji character so as to identify it. 一七六 = 176.

I have circled the Seki 関 stamp on the picture below. Only the left side of the stamp is still visible as this side of the nakago was sanitized for reasons unknown. To see the stamp clearly, one needs to download the picture and then zoom in on the location. FYI, I did not notice it until Brian & Bruce mentioned it. This got me curious as to where it was at.

Looks like someone took a wire brush to the habaki or maybe were trying to pry the habaki off? Are there any markings on the nakago mune [the spine of the tang]? 兼定 = Kanesada. 昭和十八年十二月 = 1943 December.

Cross-reference to another Kawamura Tadatsuna 河村忠綱. Japanese Officer sword - Nakago help (2 of 2)

Tony, your sword is the last one made in 1943 so far. 44th Series ヒ五九一　　昭和癸未春 1943 Spring. 44th Series ヒ六二四　　昭和癸未春 1943 Spring <-- Your sword. 44th Series ヒ一一五五　昭和甲申春 1944 Spring.

The sword is Chinese and @BANGBANGSAN is the person to ask. With that said, I think the flags represent the Beiyang Government 北洋政府 and army 北洋军. And if I am wrong, Trystan will be more than glad to correct me!

This is the new entry point for collectors and also allows for the crossover of collectors of Japanese militaria. In might come as a surprise, but almost all Japanese militaria collectors own a few military swords. The future of sword collecting organizations is bringing together the religious order (Nihontō or swords as pieces of art); the warrior class such as martial artists, law enforcement, or military (the sword as a weapon), and working class (blue collar guntō & militaria collecting and the endless debates over what original paint was used on scabbards!). With this combination, sword organizations will survive. Oddly enough, this very forum does not have a subforum for the warrior class; yet, there are many with a martial arts background and would probably love to talk about it. What is to become of them? Apologies to Peter for the sidestep.

昭和辛巳春 = 1941 Spring. 興亜一心　満鐵作之 = Kōa Isshin　South Manchuria Railway Company (SMR) made this. ソ 二三一 = So-231 [serial number]. Paul, can you post an overall picture of the sword with the scabbard placed below the blade? The purpose is just to see the style of fittings used. And finally, there is a little article written by@Bruce Penningtonabout these swords that you can read in the "Downloads" section. Mantetsu - South Manchurian Railway

Zach, I forgot to mention the following link about Type 95s. IJA Type 95 NCO Sword Info As for your concerns about the color of the scabbard, I would recommend reading the thread below. The thread introduces several colors besides the dreaded black. Type 95 Black Saya

Hi Zach, that is a nice looking Type 95 Military Sword made by Suya. @Shamsy & @Stegel will need to look at the scabbard color though. How would you describe the scabbard color when using the "Mark 1" eyeball?

The prefix rifle 小銃 used by Kanemasa 兼正 is most likely the location where the blade was made. In this case, the Rifle Factory of Tōkyō Artillery Arsenal 東京砲兵工廠小銃製造所. The first two blades are actually marked with the full name.

This is an update of Post #27 of 2020-11-27.

Katana: Shoju Kanemasa (Kogarasumaru shape) 小銃兼正 = Shōjū Kanemasa = Rifle Kanemasa. 明治二十四年六月 = June 1891. Courtesy of @MarcoUdin.